The recent presidential race, without contention, has been one for the history books. Not simply because an African-American and two women were in contention for the first time in our countries history, but also because of the current state of our economy. The excitement originated from who was running for office, the worry and concern from the fragile financial system, and the mixture of the two is what spawned the desire to win. Sidewalk chalk, t-shirts, rallies, debates, political pundits, and my personal favorite, endless campaign commercials, all fought for my attention throughout the days. Needless to say, my first time to the polls, and the circus that goes along with it, was quite the experience.
Since I have never cast a vote, in any kind of election, I didn’t know what to look for in a leader. My first step towards clarity was to ask my parents who they were voting for. Since I am fiscally dependent on them, it makes sense, what’s better for them is better for me. My dad was for McCain, my mom for Obama. Damn, another bi-partisan conclusion. Everyone I know had already joined a team, and there I was, still a gray state. Once the easy route closed up, I decided to pay more attention to what the candidates were saying. Finally, I was making progress, finding myself doing research on the internet and going to an Obama rally. With the acquired knowledge, I was ready to base my decision.
Throughout my election experience I never, whole-heartedly, backed either man. Although my vote was cast toward the victor, I wasn’t on the streets celebrating, or in the bars toasting the new president-elect, and that came as no surprise. I did, however, give a little fist pump and say, “ okay buddy, now lets see you back it up.”
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
U.S.A. presidential election 2008
After much buildup and hoopla, the presidential election of 2008 finally is over America and the people have spoken. Barack Obama of Illinois beat John Mccain of Arizona by a convincing margin and will become our next president come 01/20/09. A few thoughts:
First I must say I am pretty pleased that the election is finally over. Listening to Obama and Mccain sling mud at each other for the past few months got really repetitive really quickly, and it seemed that every move the candidates made was covered not just in depth but to the point of over analyzing. I also found it funny how after the result of the election had been determined that Mccain and Obama then lavished praise on the other candidate. Watching that on the news Tuesday night I found myself thinking these two have been bashing eachother for months and now they praise eachother?
This election will be remembered for a long time, not only because it gave us the first non-white president but it was also the first time a woman ran for vice president on either one of the major tickets. I understand that all of this has been said already but this really is a historic moment for America, and I think we all should take at least a moment to think about the significance of this election as we move forward.
Looking ahead, Senator Obama will have some challenges ahead. We have seen him talk the talk, and now people are going to expect him to walk the walk. It should prove interesting to see how much of his proposed legislation he is able to push through. As a citizen of America I hope that he can lead our country in a positive direction.
First I must say I am pretty pleased that the election is finally over. Listening to Obama and Mccain sling mud at each other for the past few months got really repetitive really quickly, and it seemed that every move the candidates made was covered not just in depth but to the point of over analyzing. I also found it funny how after the result of the election had been determined that Mccain and Obama then lavished praise on the other candidate. Watching that on the news Tuesday night I found myself thinking these two have been bashing eachother for months and now they praise eachother?
This election will be remembered for a long time, not only because it gave us the first non-white president but it was also the first time a woman ran for vice president on either one of the major tickets. I understand that all of this has been said already but this really is a historic moment for America, and I think we all should take at least a moment to think about the significance of this election as we move forward.
Looking ahead, Senator Obama will have some challenges ahead. We have seen him talk the talk, and now people are going to expect him to walk the walk. It should prove interesting to see how much of his proposed legislation he is able to push through. As a citizen of America I hope that he can lead our country in a positive direction.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yes We Did!
It is now November 5th and the much anticipated Presidential election has finally concluded. After months of campaign propaganda taking over our lives election day has arrived and America has chosen a new President. Although not every American casted their vote for Barack Obama, change has come and the majority of Americans are pleased with the outcome.
Growing up in a relatively conservative Democratic household, I have always been involved in politics. My father was the County Executive growing up and now works as a Deputy Cabinet member for the Governor here in Madison. One could say I’ve had my fair share of political influences throughout my life. Politics is something that has always interested me so when election day comes around I get especially excited. I was old enough to vote in 2004 for the Presidential election unfortunately I voted for John Kerry and he was defeated. When I casted my vote for Obama this year I felt especially hopeful that he would prevail and when the final election results came in last night I was elated!
As soon as the electoral votes from California were given to Obama my inbox was flooded with text messages about the outcome. My three closest girl friends on campus and I decided it was worth celebrating so we headed to the Nitty Gritty for celebratory pitchers of beer while we watched Obama speak. I have to say, Madison is one of the only places in Wisconsin that you could see people running around screaming Obama, people riding around on their bikes hitting cowbells, chants of USA in the bars and floods of people on the steps of the Capitol, all coming together for one man.
Although there are skeptics out there, I am a firm believer that this day will not only bring change in the occupant of the White House but also change for our Nation. A night like last night unites us and is one that many of us will never forget. Seeing the new First Family walk out onto the stage hand in hand was a sight to see. As we watched the speech last night, tears came to all of our eyes because for the first time in a long time we sense that change for the better is coming.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Research Project
Determining our group's topic on what to do our research project went fairly well. All 4 group members had input into what we thought would make a good topic and we essentially had a 75 minute brainstorming session. At the end of the period we all agreed upon a topic which I think should be pretty interesting and relevant to current events in America.
For our groups research project, we are going to be going into a topic that is somewhat of a 'hot button' issue of whether or not children in the MMSD (Madison Metropolitan School District) that are the children of illegal immigrants should be taught in classes alongside children of citizens of this country. Though the children are legal citizens in every sense under the law (provided they were born in the U.S.), there is still some backlash against teaching these children who are sometimes called 'anchor babies'. I expect that we have much to learn as this issue is a big 1 that will likely get bigger as the immigrant population of the United States has been steadily growing, but our group will be up to the challenge.
For our groups research project, we are going to be going into a topic that is somewhat of a 'hot button' issue of whether or not children in the MMSD (Madison Metropolitan School District) that are the children of illegal immigrants should be taught in classes alongside children of citizens of this country. Though the children are legal citizens in every sense under the law (provided they were born in the U.S.), there is still some backlash against teaching these children who are sometimes called 'anchor babies'. I expect that we have much to learn as this issue is a big 1 that will likely get bigger as the immigrant population of the United States has been steadily growing, but our group will be up to the challenge.
An assignment to be proud of:
A research paper, for me at least, has always been prompted within certain guidelines. Recently, in my English 201 class, this mundane approach teachers have on the normal research project was changed. Our prompt was to engage a topic in public discourse in an interesting and effective way by any means necessary.
I meet with my cohort to go over possible ideas and after a couple of minutes sitting and joking, due to our bewilderment over the freedom that was given, we began throwing idea after idea onto the table. However, this swell and range of possible topics brought us to our first problem. We needed to boil down our collected ideas and come to a common ground on one issue, a task not as easy as it sounds. Luckily, toward the end of our meeting, one idea stuck. Recently, teachers have been reluctant to teach the kids of illegal immigrants. Being the son of a Hispanic mother, who is a Spanish translator and frequently involved in the Latino community, this issue struck home. Teachers who are unwilling to teach certain kids is something many people are unaware of and a perfect opportunity for our group to research and inform the public on an important and concerning issue.
Once we had a topic that we all were interested in the next problem arose. Since we have freedom to present this research paper however we want, my group and I needed to decide how to reach the most people. A popular forum for reaching the masses is the Internet, however, our inexperience in website construction and because youtube wouldn’t exactly attract a proactive audience, the possibility was shut down. The answer to this problem came at the best possible time, during a slow and painful defeat in Monday Night Football. Annie, a member of my cohort, called and told me how she had a phone conversation with our teacher and presented the idea of a radio show. This would allow us to interview people and their thoughts on this issue. With a little bit of luck and hard work we plan on getting a spot on a university sponsored radio show, reaching anyone listening and whoever they talk to about it.
Due to the limitless opportunities our class was provided with, my cohort and I are on the fringe of a research paper that will test a lot more than just our ability to follow instructions. Our goal will not be easy to meet, to say the least, but the rewards for succeeding will mean more than a grade ever could.
I meet with my cohort to go over possible ideas and after a couple of minutes sitting and joking, due to our bewilderment over the freedom that was given, we began throwing idea after idea onto the table. However, this swell and range of possible topics brought us to our first problem. We needed to boil down our collected ideas and come to a common ground on one issue, a task not as easy as it sounds. Luckily, toward the end of our meeting, one idea stuck. Recently, teachers have been reluctant to teach the kids of illegal immigrants. Being the son of a Hispanic mother, who is a Spanish translator and frequently involved in the Latino community, this issue struck home. Teachers who are unwilling to teach certain kids is something many people are unaware of and a perfect opportunity for our group to research and inform the public on an important and concerning issue.
Once we had a topic that we all were interested in the next problem arose. Since we have freedom to present this research paper however we want, my group and I needed to decide how to reach the most people. A popular forum for reaching the masses is the Internet, however, our inexperience in website construction and because youtube wouldn’t exactly attract a proactive audience, the possibility was shut down. The answer to this problem came at the best possible time, during a slow and painful defeat in Monday Night Football. Annie, a member of my cohort, called and told me how she had a phone conversation with our teacher and presented the idea of a radio show. This would allow us to interview people and their thoughts on this issue. With a little bit of luck and hard work we plan on getting a spot on a university sponsored radio show, reaching anyone listening and whoever they talk to about it.
Due to the limitless opportunities our class was provided with, my cohort and I are on the fringe of a research paper that will test a lot more than just our ability to follow instructions. Our goal will not be easy to meet, to say the least, but the rewards for succeeding will mean more than a grade ever could.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Project I.D.E.A.s
As we all discussed possible directions for our project topic we came up with ideas ranging from the UW Break-dancing club to STD's. Our discussion wasn't what you would call heated, but yet full of many different directions. The confrence concluded with a bright I.D.E.A. of researching a local problem in Madison elementary schools of teachers refusing to teach children of illegal immigrants. Thanks to Annies great suggestion we all finally agreed on our topic.
Throughout the meeting we didn't really argue, just focused on finding a unique and interesting topic we all liked equally. The major disagreement we encountered was over the topic which was quickly resolved with a great I.DE.A. The only other item we have discussed as a group was the way we would present this information in our final report, and we all agreed on this after only a few minutes as well. As a group the I.D.E.A. cohort works well together and always manages to have fun.
In the past group projects have always been sucessful and fun for me. I can tell our cohort will work well together and present our information to the community and hopefully resolve the problem.
Throughout the meeting we didn't really argue, just focused on finding a unique and interesting topic we all liked equally. The major disagreement we encountered was over the topic which was quickly resolved with a great I.DE.A. The only other item we have discussed as a group was the way we would present this information in our final report, and we all agreed on this after only a few minutes as well. As a group the I.D.E.A. cohort works well together and always manages to have fun.
In the past group projects have always been sucessful and fun for me. I can tell our cohort will work well together and present our information to the community and hopefully resolve the problem.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Putting the Paris into Politics
As the Presidential election comes closer, more and more political commercials and publications are introduced into the media. Each one of these ads contribute to the reputation of either candidate weather it is good or bad publicity. As this publicity spreads throughout the population the candidates turn from political entities to pop culture icons. Although they are not the same type of pop culture icons as actors and musicians, their every move is still viewed by the public and plastered all over the media. Usually these publications have nothing to do with the true character and intentions of the candidate and somewhat undermine what is really at risk: democracy.
As the media turns our politicians into pop culture icons it takes away from the true meaning of the elections. As an avid TV viewer I see more adds about the faults and negatives of each candidate than the good. Unfortunately these ads tend to focus on unimportant items and usually create logical fallacies in the process. This turns the elections into a he said/she said game along with many of the ads dealing with true pop culture icons. It is rare to hear a commercial or statement that has anything to do with the plan each duo has for our country. These types of publicity are what generate opinions for voters however they have nothing to do with the actual democracy of our country.
In my opinion, this pop culture fix on our government has a great effect on what decisions are made. Each candidate and government official is watched over ever so carefully by the media, and in turn the entire nation. Every decision they make proves to be very influential on their reputation. Being in the public eye may change the mind of how a candidate votes on certain influential documents, especially so close to an important Presidential election. They will fear the negative publicity that an unfavorable vote may cause, even if this decision is for the good of our country.
As voters make their ways to the polls this year they will most likely not remember important factors when choosing a president but rather the silly things such as Barak Obama being compared to Paris Hilton or how Sarah Palin having a pregnant teen daughter. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, future presidential elections may become even more intertwined with pop culture. It is important however to remember when you are at the polls this year: vote not for your favorite pop star, but vote for who can create a promising future for our democracy.
As the media turns our politicians into pop culture icons it takes away from the true meaning of the elections. As an avid TV viewer I see more adds about the faults and negatives of each candidate than the good. Unfortunately these ads tend to focus on unimportant items and usually create logical fallacies in the process. This turns the elections into a he said/she said game along with many of the ads dealing with true pop culture icons. It is rare to hear a commercial or statement that has anything to do with the plan each duo has for our country. These types of publicity are what generate opinions for voters however they have nothing to do with the actual democracy of our country.
In my opinion, this pop culture fix on our government has a great effect on what decisions are made. Each candidate and government official is watched over ever so carefully by the media, and in turn the entire nation. Every decision they make proves to be very influential on their reputation. Being in the public eye may change the mind of how a candidate votes on certain influential documents, especially so close to an important Presidential election. They will fear the negative publicity that an unfavorable vote may cause, even if this decision is for the good of our country.
As voters make their ways to the polls this year they will most likely not remember important factors when choosing a president but rather the silly things such as Barak Obama being compared to Paris Hilton or how Sarah Palin having a pregnant teen daughter. As our world becomes more technologically advanced, future presidential elections may become even more intertwined with pop culture. It is important however to remember when you are at the polls this year: vote not for your favorite pop star, but vote for who can create a promising future for our democracy.
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